Why You Need a Positivity Journal

Quick quiz!

Do you feel more positive or negative in your life right now?

Give your answer H.E.R.E………………

Amidst the recent migrant crises, Hajj incidents and general turmoil around the Ummah, it is so easy to view the entire world and your life within as one BIG bad crisis after another. The negativity bias at this time is high and you may think of yourself as ‘blameworthy’.

What can YOU do to offset this bias?

For starters, you can become more intentional about positivity in your life while remembering that this entire life is a test and will come with doses of both the negatives and positives.

”Do the people think that they will be left to say, “We believe” and they will not be tried?”
(Al-‘Ankabut 29:2)

Here are 3 steps YOU can take towards a more positive life:

Prioritise positivity.

Build positive habits.

Create positive resources.

You may be thinking, ”I’m only a regular, striving brother or sister, so no issues here. I’m safe from all of these negative thinking and attitude.”

Well, there’s good news for you too.

Prioritise on Positivity

Positivity will help you thrive and build great relationships. In that case, your goal should be to prioritise on positivity so that you can nurture and multiply the positive emotions within you. Then spread it for others to feel and share as well – bringing about a ripple effect of uplifting the Ummah beyond the negative CRISIS mode.

Researchers and psychologists from a past couple of decades, have recorded great findings from their study of positivity and positive emotions. A lot of resources have been invested in this field and much work is on going.

The Qur’an references and promotes positivity through themes, stories and reminders for all areas of life while acknowledging the possibility and reality of negative happenings.

The recurring theme of hope, having deep faith and reliance on Allah (swt) is continuous in both Qur’an and Sunnah.

The sunnah is a core resource for studying positivity and positive emotions.

The Prophet (saw) said:

“How wonderful is the affair of the believer, for his affairs are all good, and this applies to no one but the believer. If something good happens to him, he is thankful for it and that is good for him. If something bad happens to him, he bears it with patience and that is good for him.” (Muslim)

Build Habits

Be intentional in everything you do – from your intention, to speech to action. Make them as positive as possible.

When you begin from within you, you can gradually build habits that become sustainable over time.

Here are 3 simple of positive habits you can focus on daily;

Smiling at others;

Spreading salaam;

Making du’a for others.

Can you think of other habits?

The sunnah is overflowing with etiquettes which embody positivity, such as etiquettes of sleeping, eating and entering the home.

Read the books of seerah (history) of Prophet Muhammad (saw) and study his sunnah to help you build positive and rewarding habits in your life.

Build Resources

For maximum impact, you need to create resources to help you experience positivity at an optimal level. One of such resources is a positivity journal.

A positivity journal will help you focus more on the positive emotions in your life; by acknowledging them and transforming them into a visual and hands-on resource that appeals to your senses.

One way you can use the journal:

At the end of each day write, sketch, paste an image or icon, magazine cut out, etc. in the journal. Ensure your writing or sketch relates to the positive emotions you experienced throughout the day.

It could be a verse of the Qur’an, words of remembrance, supplication you made or reflection you made on one of the names of Allah (swt) that caused you to experience some positive emotions.

Note them down.

Another way to use the journal:

Focus on one positive emotion like gratitude or love (for Allah (swt) or for His sake) for a week.

Try to input something about your positive experience of that emotion during each day. With time and consistent use of this journal, you will become more aware and focused on the positivity in your life.

When you add this to the awareness that Allah (swt) is the One who furnishes us with those emotions that help us thrive and be among those who worship Him and submit to Him – you will become more focused on Allah (swt).

You begin to realise that despite the traditional news outlets and social media, there’s a lot of positivity in your life and in our Ummah. It’s up to you to consciously uncover these positive aspects, build them into your daily life habits and learn to turn the positive reflections from internal thoughts into an experiential one.

You can achieve this by purposefully creating a memorabilia of those positive happenings in your life – from the very subtle ones to the huge moments.

Can you think of one of such positive experience in your life today?

Perhaps while reading Qur’an after Fajr, or smiling at your loved ones as you bid them bye to work or school, or feeling a spiritual boost from the Friday khutbah and prayers. It could even be an email or SMS you received with some good news or beautiful reminder.

Whatever it is, remembering and acknowledging these positive moments will make them more meaningful.

Each day can become a celebration for you as you learn to acknowledge those blessings and trials you will otherwise have taken for granted.

And when you realise how much you have, you will be spurred into taking action so you don’t waste all or part of it.

You need a positivity journal to become more positive, purposeful and proactive.

Comments

Writing a positivity or gratitude journal is such a beneficial practice. However I just don’t have time at this stage in my life. Instead I will try to thank Allah more in my duaas, instead of asking for things all the time! Perhaps I can make this a habit before going to sleep….Thanks for the inspiration 🙂

I once read that instead of writing a to do list, it helps to write a Done list. which helps you stay positive because you have achieved many things that day. A to do list will only show you what you have yet to do, which might be a little bit negative to some. nevertheless thank you for such great reminders.

Your mind can be super evil, its great to write down goals and accomplishments and plans, whenever you’re feeling down or demotivated you can read whay you wrote before and also writing a journal has been proven very therapeutic, and not wrong because sometimes its easier to express yourself in writing than speaking.

By affirmations, do you mean self-affirmations; positive statements you can use to empower yourself by programming your inner thoughts?

If yes, I believe you can. As long as you recognise as a Muslim, that nothing happens except by the will of Allah (swt); and that all outcomes depend on Him, you can only put in the time, effort, make du’a and be mindful of your actions.

Using the phrase ‘In sha Allah’ with your statements is a great reminder of this. And remembering that success comes from Allah (swt) alone.

Salaam Alaykum Warahmotulahi Wabarakatuh!!! Jazakhallahu khairan for the wonderful and inspiring posts. I am seeing this kind of article on positivity in Islam, seriously for the first time in my life. My questions is that: being with Positive thoughts is it the same as Affirmations. I need ur reference if it is.

Regarding your question: Thoughts and affirmations are quite different. While our thoughts are internal, affirmations are external (through speech). Affirmations could come from our inner thoughts and beliefs and they could also come from just what we read out in anticipation of WHO we want to become or WHAT we want to achieve. This type of speech can condition our inner thoughts and wire us into believing them over time.

An example of a positive inner thought is ”thinking of the mercy, reward and blessings” attached to seeking forgiveness due to one’s sincere repentance after committing a sin. This thought will lead to a hopeful feeling and desire to repeat the repentance process and return to Allah (swt).

And remembering also that Allah (swt) loves those who turn to Him in repentance. Imagine the thought of ALLAH’s love, isn’t that enough to melt the heart and keep it positive?

Another example is ‘thinking of the outcome of your sincere supplications’; you ask Allah (swt) while having good thoughts of His positive response. You know that even if you don’t see what you obviously want right now, there’s a reward waiting for you later in sha Allah. That is powerful, inspiring and positive.

The third example is ‘thinking of your blessings and fortunes over misfortunes’. So you lose your brand new iphone and feel SAD, but your thoughts lead to that of gratitude because Alhamdulillah you are still alive and healthy; a young person you know only recently died or is bedridden. Don’t you have so much to be thankful for?

Our positive thoughts lead to positive verbal expression. And as Muslims, the sunnah is full of examples of such expressions.

Hope that clarifies it Brother. May Allah (swt) keep us positive in this world and the next.

AMAZON Afiliate Disclosure

YouthlyHub is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.